I loved this charming book. How could you not? The characters are so real and memorable, the story is so perfect. I haven't stayed up all night for a book in a long time, I couldn't wait to see what happened next and I've seen the movie (which is also fantastic).

Mrs. Threadgoode was such a sweet and charming old girl. Evelyn Couch was an un-happy housewife who needed a change. Together and with help from Idgie and Ruth they became close friends, and exactly what each other needed.

I cannot recommend this book enough, it really is unforgettable.

Evelyn Couch goes to the nursing home with her husband as he visits his mother ever week. Evelyn quickly gives her best wishes and then hurries out to the waiting room. It is hear that she meets Ninny Threadgoode, an 86 year old woman who starts taking from the second Evelyn sits down. Ninny talks about the past, not her life, but the life of all the people she used to know and especially Idgie and Ruth two very special friends. Evelyn becomes caught up in this story and ultimately her life is changed forever.

The story is told through very short chapters that move back and forth through time. There are several narratives: the past, the present and local newsletters and newspapers. We follow the Threadgoode family and all their kin and townsfolk from the late 1920s through the 1980s.

This is absolutely a beautiful, wonderful, funny, heartwarming, story. Not much really happens plotwise, it's just a story of the lives of a group of people. The characters are just so truly wonderful I could not put the book down and when I had finished I was so sorry it was over. It's a story of good times and bad times, white folks and black folks, deaths and accidents, the young'uns and the old folks and how all together these things are a part of life. Wonderful book. Read it.